


Out of the Mouths of Babes

by dettiot



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, The Force, but this is just for fun, probably a case of That's Not How the Force Works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23654821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dettiot/pseuds/dettiot
Summary: Padmé  goes through an unusual change and Anakin's not really sure how to handle it.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62





	Out of the Mouths of Babes

**Author's Note:**

> I fully admit this is odd and rather cracky, but I enjoyed writing it. So I hope you enjoy reading it!

Padmé strode along the hallways of the Senate Building, her mind working away on a dozen major issues. And in the back of her mind, always, were the knot of worries and fear about Anakin. 

“Sabé, please make sure the latest reports from the front are loaded to my datapad,” she reminded her most faithful handmaiden. Not because she thought Sabé would have forgotten, but just . . . so she would know that Padmé was worrying about Anakin. 

“Of course, Senator,” Sabé said gently. “I skimmed them and it doesn’t look like there were any major hot spots in the last week.” 

“That’s good,” Padmé said, pausing to smile and nod at Senator Organa as they passed in front of one of the large windows in the Senate Building. “Bail, how are you?”

He smiled and bowed to her. “I’m well. Busy, of course. But I’ll be leaving for Alderaan tomorrow night to see Breha.” 

Padmé smiled, hoping she didn’t look as wistful as she felt. “How wonderful.” 

Bail opened his mouth to speak, but then squinted as bright flashes of light began strobing through the window. “What . . . ?” he said. 

“I don’t--” she began to say, before the flashes grew brighter than the sun. Padmé threw her hand up as she closed her eyes, feeling the light fall over her and making her feel . . . odd. 

And small?

XXX

Sabé crouched beside Padmé, her heart pounding. “Padmé? Are you all right?” 

A tiny hand flailed at the yards of fabric around her, then a small face with big brown eyes looked up at her. “Where am I?” she asked in a smaller, softer version of Padmé’s voice. 

To go with her much smaller body. 

Beside her, Senator Organa sank down on his haunches. “You’re in the Senate Building, on Coruscant, Padmé,” he said in a gentle voice. 

The tiny, small child that was now Padmé looked up at him, then looked at Sabé, her lip quivering. “I live on Naboo. I want my mommy.” 

“Of course you do,” Senator Organa said sympathetically. “We’ll contact her and get her here. But for now, would you please go with Miss Sabé and she’ll take you to your home here on Coruscant?” 

Padmé looked at Sabé hesitantly, hugging her knees to her chest, her dress swamping her child’s figure. Then she nodded and extended one hand to Sabé. 

“All right, let’s go,” Sabé said, putting on a smile. “Um, upsy-daisy,” she said awkwardly. 

She helped Padmé gather her skirts and rise to her feet, then Sabé looked at Senator Organa. “Could you please make apologies for Padmé’s absence this afternoon?” 

“Of course, Sabé. I’m sure this is just . . . temporary.” The Senator sounded as unsure as Sabé herself felt, but she appreciated his attempt to soothe her.

“I hope so, too. Let’s go, Padmé,” she said, clutching her hand. 

Padmé nodded and started skipping along beside Sabé, looking around with big eyes at all the people surrounding them. 

Meanwhile, Sabé was focused on what to do. Because whatever had happened to Padmé, it was dangerous for her to be in this state. The Trade Federation would love the simplicity of a target who wasn’t capable of fighting--and Sabé doubted the Trade Federation would have any qualms over killing a child. 

No, Padmé would need protection as long as she was in this condition. Of course Sabé would do her best, as well as the rest of Padmé’s aides and former handmaidens. 

But Sabé knew there was someone who would be an even better protector for her best friend. 

XXX

Anakin Skywalker looked around as he approached Padmé’s apartment, feeling his nerves increase. Ever since he had received Sabé’s strange holocall, he had been worrying about what was going on with Padmé. That worry doubled when right after the call, Master Windu had called him into a Council meeting and told him Senator Organa had requested Jedi protection for Senator Amidala. 

With Ahsoka off-planet with Obi-Wan, Anakin was on his own and found himself wishing either his former master or his current Padawan was with him. But on the other hand . . . being able to be with Padmé, protecting her from a threat . . . it would be like old times. Like when they had first met. 

The thought was enough to quiet his nerves for a moment, long enough for him to settle himself and press the doorbell by Padmé’s door. 

The chime had barely finished sounding when the door slid open to reveal Sabé. “Good evening, General. Please, come in,” she said, sounding even more no-nonsense than normal. But he also detected an air of . . . 

Well, if Anakin didn’t know better, he’d say Sabé was frazzled. Which seemed impossible.

“Thank you, Sabé,” he said, stepping into the apartment and looking around for Padmé. “I’m at your and the Senator’s disposal, of course. I understand something has happened?” 

Sabé’s face was blank, but her lips thinned infinitesimally. “Yes.” 

Before Anakin could ask any more questions, a small blur dashed into the room, a loud shriek emanating from it. Hot on its heels came Dormé, holding a large towel. “Padmé, please!” 

Anakin blinked as the blur resolved itself into a small, dripping-wet child, with big brown eyes and curly brown hair . . . and completely naked. 

Dormé quickly wrapped her towel around the child and scooped her up, carrying her back to the refresher. Anakin’s eyes followed the two of them, but his body was frozen in place as he tried to figure out what he had just seen. 

Then, slowly, he turned to look at Sabé. 

“Would . . . would you like a seat?” Sabé asked weakly. 

He sat down heavily, still staring at his wife’s best friend. 

“Three days ago, the Senator was . . . caught . . . in an accident of some kind,” Sabé said slowly, sitting down across from him. “From everything we can tell, and from her medical records, she was regressed to her four-year-old self. We don’t understand what’s happened, which is why we wanted a Jedi to come and evaluate her. And more than that . . .” Sabé looked around and lowered her voice. “I knew you would want to know.” 

Almost unconsciously, Anakin reached out for Padmé through the Force, searching for her presence. He could sense a flicker of her in the apartment, something small and uncertain, like a flame in the wind. 

“I . . . I’ve never heard of anything like this happening,” Anakin said slowly. “Certainly not to someone who isn’t Force-sensitive. But--but I suppose I should reserve any guesses at what caused this, until I’ve . . . until I’ve talked to Padmé,” he said, discarding his thought of talking to Master Yoda for the time being.

Sabé nodded and rose to her feet. “I’ll bring her out.” 

“Sabé--wait,” he said, taking her wrist. “What . . . what is she like?” 

A rush of emotion flickered through Sabé’s eyes. “She is very much like Padmé. Strong-willed, determined, but also kind.” 

Anakin wondered what Sabé was leaving unsaid. But he supposed he would find out very soon. 

Sabé slipped out of the room, and after a few minutes, she returned, tugging Padmé along with her. “Come along, Padmé, this nice man needs to talk to you.” 

“No,” Padmé said, in a stubborn voice that Anakin couldn’t help smiling at. Because she sounded very much like his angel. 

Rising to his feet, Anakin knelt to one knee in front of Sabé and Padmé, putting himself more on Padmé’s current level. “Hello.” 

Padmé looked at him for a long moment, her eyes thoughtful and calculating. It gave him time to really look her over, to see the woman she became in the soft, childlike features in front of him. He felt his heart swell as he wondered if they ever had a child, if they would look like Padmé did now. 

_That’s if you’re able to figure this out and bring back *your* Padmé_ , his sarcastic inner voice reminded him. 

Doing his best to ignore that voice, Anakin held his hand out to her. “My name is Anakin. Would you mind talking to me for just a few minutes? I know it’s late and you’re probably sleepy.” 

She shook his hand, then frowned. “No, I’m not,” she said emphatically, shaking her head and sending a tangle of curls shifting around her face and small shoulders as she responded to his last statement. 

Anakin smiled a little. “Okay. Well, how about we talk?” 

Padmé nodded, then took his hand again. “This way.” She tugged on him, with surprising strength, and dragged him over to the couch. She climbed up, letting go of his hand, and then plopping down on the cushions. She arranged her long white nightgown and blue robe carefully, then looked up at him, her bare feet bouncing a little. 

Slowly, Anakin sat down beside her, leaving some space between them. “Do you know your name?” 

The look she gave him was scathing. “I’m not a baby. I know my name. It’s Padmé. And I know all the planets in the Chommell Sector, and I know arithmetic, and how to say ‘Hello’ and ‘It’s nice to meet you’ in six languages.” 

“Wow,” Anakin said, not faking the impressed tone in his voice. “You’re right, you’re not a baby. I asked my question wrong. What I meant was, when you woke up here, did you know your name was Padmé before anyone called you that?” 

She frowned, but nodded. “Yes.” 

“Good,” Anakin said, taking her in. Focusing on her presence, sensing how different it felt now. 

“You’re really tall,” Padmé said. “I bet you can reach all the things on the shelves.” She pointed to the display shelves around the room. 

Anakin chuckled softly. “Yeah, I can.” He leaned in closer to her. “So what do you want from the shelves?” 

Padmé gave him a conspiratorial smile. “The blue fish,” she said, pointing at a small figurine on the top shelf--a knickknack Anakin knew she had brought with her from Naboo. 

“Well . . . if you don’t mind answering my questions, perhaps I could get it for you to play with,” Anakin said.

She weighed that thought, then nodded. “Okay.” 

“Thank you,” he said, smiling. “All right, so my next question is . . . have you ever heard of something called the Force?” 

“Yes,” Padmé said, before frowning. “But I don’t know what it is.” 

“That’s okay, Padmé,” he told her. “The Force is an energy field that surrounds all of us. Some people can sense the Force, and can use it to learn things and to protect themselves and others.” 

Her brown eyes went big. “Can _you_ do that?”

Part of him couldn’t help preening a little at her words. “Yes, I can. I want to use the Force to see what’s happened to you.” 

“Will it . . . hurt?” 

“Not at all,” Anakin reassured her. 

“Well . . .” Padmé’s eyes went to the blue fish, then returned to his. “Okay.” 

Anakin reached out slowly, delicately touching Padmé’s mind. Her eyes drifted close and she leaned against the couch cushions. 

Her mind was nothing like his Padmé’s. It was underdeveloped, almost unformed, but there were still hints of who she would become. And her essence--that core of her that was still Padmé--was there. 

Slowly, he searched through her mind, looking for any hints as to what caused this. It was so strange. He would understand if her body had remained unchanged but her mind altered to her younger self. But both her body and mind being altered? It seemed like something out of holofiction. 

His heart seemed to sink as he realized he didn’t know what had happened or how to fix this. And he felt the fear in his heart, at the thought of losing Padmé. Yes, she would probably grow up and be fine . . . but how would he survive without her? 

It wasn’t fair! 

Drawing in a breath slowly, Anakin made himself push aside his own fears and withdraw his hands from Padmé’s temples. She looked up at him, an unhappy, confused look on her face. Then, to his shock, she moved and threw her arms around him. 

“Um . . . Padmé?” he asked in surprise, glancing at Sabé. 

The former handmaiden looked as surprised as he felt. “Padmé hasn’t hugged any of us.” 

“You need a hug,” Padmé said, her voice muffled against his tunic. 

With some hesitation, Anakin lowered his arms and gave Padmé a gentle hug in return. “Well, thank you.” 

Padmé pulled back and looked up at him. “Are we all done?” 

It was so hard to not reach out and stroke her hair. “Yes, we’re all done for now.” 

“Can I play with the fish now?” she asked, making her brown eyes seem especially pleading. 

“No, Padmé, it’s bedtime,” Sabé said, speaking up for the first time. “But I will let you play with the fish tomorrow. I promise.” 

A look of disgruntlement flickered over Padmé’s face, but she seemed to sense that there was no use in arguing with Sabé. A sentiment that Anakin fully agreed with. 

“Okay.” She wiggled down off the couch. She dashed over to Sabé and took her hand again. 

Anakin rose to his feet. “Good night, Padmé. Sweet dreams.” 

She gave him a smile that was small and adorable. “Good night, Anakin.” She made a little curtsey, prompting what was almost an eye roll from Sabé, who then led Padmé away. 

Running a hand over his face, Anakin assessed what should happen next. Just because he hadn’t found any cause for Padmé’s regression didn’t mean there wasn’t one. Master Yoda would be much more capable than he was at searching Padmé’s mind. 

But the thought of taking Padmé into the Temple . . . it didn’t sit right with him. He wasn’t sure why, but . . . it just didn’t. 

At the very least, he could talk to Master Yoda and share this information. 

Dormé stepped out into the living room. “Master Skywalker? I was wondering if you needed to return to the Temple immediately?” 

“No, not immediately,” Anakin said. “I was going to return and tell Master Yoda that I would need his help . . .” 

Dormé nodded. “Then I don’t suppose you’d mind fulfilling a request of Padmé’s?” 

“Of course not,” Anakin said quickly. 

“Follow me,” Dormé said, leading him into the room he already knew the way to. 

In the bed they normally shared, Padmé looked especially small. Her cheeks were flushed and there were tear tracks on her face. 

“Padmé?” he asked, moving past Dormé and walking over to sit on the edge of the bed. “What is it?” 

She sniffed but squared his shoulders. “Could you brush my hair? It’s all tangled and I want you to fix it.” 

Not for the first time, Anakin wondered if Padmé had some kind of ability that went beyond the Force. How else to explain her talent at offering exactly what someone needed when they needed it? 

A hairbrush and comb appeared in his line of vision, proffered by Sabé. Taking them both, Anakin looked at Padmé and did his best to smile at her. “All right. Turn around and face the pillows.” 

Her face lit up, her tears forgotten, as she scrambled into place. Anakin noticed how knotted her hair was, and remembered how much Padmé hated having those knots brushed out. 

Gently and delicately, he began working his way through her hair, unsnarling the fine hairs. “So, why don’t you tell me all the planets in the Chommell Sector?” he said softly after a few moments. 

“There’s Naboo, of course,” Padmé said. “But also Behpour, Chommell Minor, Erep, Karlinus, Kreeling, Moth, Storm, Widow . . . Have you ever been to Naboo?” 

“I have,” Anakin said, working on a difficult tangle. “I’ve been to Theed, and to the Lake Country.” 

“We have a villa in the Lake Country. Maybe you could come visit us there! My mommy is coming to stay with me. It just takes a long time for her to get to Coruscant from Naboo.” 

He smiled a little at the enthusiasm and welcome in her voice. “I hope she gets here soon.” 

“Me, too. I miss her. And Daddy, and Sola . . . but Sola’s all grown up and has little girls, too.” Padmé’s voice sounded like she was pouting. “They’re older than me. I should be older than them! I’m their aunt!”

Anakin couldn’t help a soft chuckle. “We all hope we’ll be able to get you back to your right age soon, Padmé.”

“I know. ‘Be patient, Padmé’,” she said, sounding like she was reciting something she had heard often. “Easy for everyone else to say.” 

“Tell me about it,” Anakin said in commiseration. 

The worst of the tangles were smoothed out, allowing Anakin to begin running the hairbrush through her hair slowly. 

Padmé let out a soft sigh. “That feels good, Anakin. Do you have a little girl? Is that how you got good at brushing hair?” 

“Um . . . no. I’m a Jedi. We don’t have families.” 

“Well, that doesn’t make any sense,” Padmé said matter-of-factly. “Who takes care of you, if you don’t have a family?”

_You_. 

Anakin swallowed down the word. “Well . . . I have my Master, Obi-Wan. He’s like . . . like my father and my brother, all in one. And I have a Padwan--someone I’m teaching to be a Jedi,” he explained. “Her name is Ahsoka. But she’s a Togruta, so she doesn’t have hair to brush.” 

“Lucky,” Padmé said around a yawn. 

Dormé spoke softly. “Are you tired, Padmé?” 

She nodded a little and shifted around, reaching up to run her little hands through her hair. She looked up at Anakin and beamed. “Thank you for brushing my hair.” 

Swallowing and trying not to snap the comb in his mech hand from gripping it too hard, he nodded and smiled back. “You’re welcome.”

He stood up, backing away as Dormé leaned in to braid Padmé’s hair. She finished the task quickly and kissed Padmé’s cheek. “Time to sleep.” 

Padmé nodded, yawning again and snuggling down under the covers. “Good night,” she said, her eyes closing almost immediately. 

“Good night, Padmé,” Anakin couldn’t help saying. Then he shoved the brush and comb into Sabé’s hands and stepped out of the room, leaving the apartment as quickly as he could. 

He could hear and feel Sabé hurrying after him. “General Skywalker--”

“What, Sabé?” he said, turning to look at her, trying to hold his anger in check. Anger at Sabé for delaying his escape, anger at all the feelings swamping his meager control, anger at this whole situation. 

Her shoulders slumped slightly, before she gathered herself and returned to her usual erect posture. “Just . . . thank you.” 

“For what? I don’t know what caused this, I don’t know how to fix it, and for all I know, Padmé’s gonna have to grow up twice!”

Proving her worth and value, Sabé didn’t back down in the face of his anger. “But you put Padmé first. She’s been acting out ever since this happened--throwing tantrums, whining, or being incredibly clingy. You’re the first person she’s reacted to like the girl she really is. And I know it couldn’t have been easy for you, to see her like this. So . . .thank you.” 

Now it was time for Anakin’s shoulders to slump. He nodded a little, feeling the flames of his anger die down to embers. “Just . . . tell Padmé I’ll be back in the morning. I’m going to talk to Master Yoda about her condition and what else we can do.”

“Very good,” Sabé said. “I’ll comm you if anything changes.” 

“Thank you,” he said, meaning the words. Trying to act more like the grown man he was. 

She gave him a small smile. “Good night.” 

With a nod, Anakin left the apartment, walking slowly to his speeder and going through everything in his mind. Wondering if he could make himself hang in there until Padmé grew up again. Wondering what he would do if that Padmé would love him, too. 

XXX

After a sleepless night and a long session of meditation, Anakin went to the Council meeting room to wait for Master Yoda. Fortunately, the ancient Jedi didn’t make him wait long. 

“Troubled, Master Skywalker?” Yoda asked, looking up at him. “The Senator, what is her condition?” 

“It’s very odd, Master Yoda,” he said, following him into the meeting room. “Her body and mind seem to be that of her four-year-old self.” 

“Hmph,” Yoda said, sitting in his normal seat. “Seem? Or actually are, body and mind?” 

Anakin spread his hands. “I didn’t sense any darkness or malevolence in her mind. No trace of the Dark Side acting upon her like this. And I could understand if the Force could make her mind regress, but her body as well?” 

“Many times I say, luminous beings we are, not crude matter,” Yoda said, gently poking his shoulder with his gimmer stick. “But have the Force, the Senator does not. Strange, it is.” 

“Yes,” Anakin said with a nod, resisting the urge to rub his shoulder. “I hoped you might come with me to the Senator’s apartment, to examine her with your greater skill.” 

“Bring her here, you do not?” 

Pressing his lips together, Anakin strived to do what Obi-Wan would do in this situation. “Given the Senator’s history and profile, I thought it would be best if as few people as possible were aware of this . . . change.”

“Mmm . . . a point, you have.” Yoda hoisted himself upright. “Take me to the Senator, you will. Help her, we shall.” 

“Thank you, Master Yoda,” he said, following him. “I know the Senator appreciates your concern.” 

“A strong supporter of the Jedi, she is,” Yoda affirmed. “At this time, lose our friends, we cannot.” 

Anakin nodded in agreement, even as his thoughts turned, once again, to the thought of losing Padmé. 

Thankfully, Yoda allowed him to stay lost in his thoughts as he drove them to Padmé’s apartment. Keeping his steps small and slow for Yoda’s benefit gave Anakin extra time to prepare himself. 

If Padmé couldn’t be restored to her true self . . . then Anakin would find a way to cope. He had Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, after all. And perhaps he would be able to visit Padmé occasionally. Plus . . . if she was on Naboo, with her family, growing up, she would be safe. Away from the dangers of Coruscant, protected by the people who loved her. 

He would just have to trust in the Force, that it was doing all of this for a reason. 

That didn’t stop him, though, from punching the doorbell at Padmé’s apartment a little harder than necessary. 

And it wasn’t until he pressed the doorbell that he thought to reach out for the feelings of the apartment’s inhabitants. Strangely, they all felt . . . excited? 

The door slid open and Sabé smiled widely at him. “I was just about to comm you.” 

“Good news, you have?” Yoda asked, a smile on his face as they stepped into the apartment. 

Before Sabé could respond, a small blur approached them and threw their arms around Anakin’s neck. “Ani!” Padmé cried out. 

Adult Padmé. _His_ Padmé. 

And even with Master Yoda standing _right there_ , Anakin couldn’t help hugging her tightly, pressing his face against her neck. “Padmé,” he breathed out. 

She pulled away, smiling brightly at him. “I’m back,” she said. “I just woke up this morning and I was _me_ again.” 

“I see,” he said, beaming at her. He reached out and brushed a curl out of her eyes, his fingers smoothing her braid a little. 

“It was the strangest thing. It’s like I remember what happened, but it’s all like it really happened when I was four, and not over the last three days,” Padmé said. 

“Amazing powers, the Force has. Beyond all we know, we always find,” Master Yoda said. 

Padmé’s face flushed and she wrapped her arms around herself, since she was . . . in a robe. Thankfully not the robe she had been wearing last night, as that one would be much too small for her. 

“Yes, Master Yoda,” she said. “I--I must thank you, and General Skywalker, for your concern for me.” 

“Least we could, for Senator Amidala,” Yoda said, giving her a kind smile. “Allow you and Master Skywalker to speak, I will.” 

Anakin stared at Yoda as he turned and headed for the door. “Master Yoda?” 

“Think we know so little, you do?” Master Yoda said, pausing to look at him. “Aware, we are. Aware, and accepting. But, careful you will be,” he said, lifting his gimmer stick. “More than just Jedi, against such a relationship.” 

And with that, Yoda turned and walked out of the apartment, leaving him absolutely dumbstruck.

“Ani?” 

“Yeah?” he asked, only glancing at Padmé before he looked back at the now-closed door.

“Did--did Master Yoda basically just tell you that he . . . and that it’s okay that we . . . ?” 

Anakin gave his head a shake, like he was trying to slot all the pieces into place after thinking they would never fit. “Um . . . yeah. I think he did.” 

“Maybe I should have been turned into a four-year-old sooner.” 

“Never say that,” Anakin said quickly, turning to look at her and then scooping her up in his arms. “But since we’ve just been given an all-clear by the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, I’m going to take you to your bedroom. And it’s not to brush your hair.” 

Padmé beamed at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “But you do it so well, Anakin. Pretty please?” 

How could he resist that smile? The short answer: he couldn’t. “Oh, all right,” he said, unable to stop smiling at her. “But later.”

“Much later,” Padmé agreed, leaning in to kiss him. 

End.


End file.
